It was an event that lived up to the title of ‘Best in the World’ as Soccerex hosted an exclusive debate, price where the former Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012, look Sebastian Coe and Brazilian football legend Carlos Alberto Torres came together to discuss the Olympics in London and in Rio, ed football and the golden moments of their careers at the Windsor Hotel, in the borough of Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro on 19^th November.

In what was the first meeting between the two-time Olympic gold medallist and the 1970 FIFA World Cup^TM winning Captain, the two sporting legends shared their thoughts on a variety of social and sporting issues; speaking passionately on the power of sport and the key role it plays within society, focusing particularly on how the 2016 Rio Games would inspire a Brazilian generation, like that of the 2012 London Games. During the discussion Lord Coe also raised an important lesson on how to inspire youngsters through athletics by learning from football’s team sports ethics and values.

With a week to go before the Soccerex Global Convention, the world’s leading football business event, returns to Rio for the third year running, Lord Coe and Carlos’s discussion naturally turned to football and in particular, Olympic football. Although the newly appointed Chairman of the British Olympic Association agreed that Team GB’s football performance at the Olympics wasn’t successful on the pitch, the sold-out stadiums across the country and the interest from fans was judged as a huge success and a key lesson for the 2016 LOC. Being a lifelong Chelsea supporter, Lord Coe also highlighted the special connection between the club and Brazil, with a number of key Brazilians now playing for the West London side, as well as expressing his desire for Brazilian superstar Neymar to join them at Stamford Bridge. Concentrating on matters on the pitch, Carlos Alberto Torres raised the idea of making Olympic football an U-21 tournament to increase the level of excitement and experience for younger players.  He also highlighted the link between Chelsea and Brazil and said he will be closely following the FIFA Club World Cup match between Chelsea and Corinthians in Japan.

Having two iconic global sports stars in the same room, for the first time, attracted a large international media presence, with the BBC, Lance!, SporTV, Globo, Terra and Folha de São Paulo all present. In what was a special moment between the two men, Carlos presented Lord Coe with a personally signed Carlos Alberto number 4 shirt and the iconic golden Soccerex ball to mark the friendship between them.

Pictures of this exclusive event can be found at www.actionimages.com using the following details:

Login Name : GlobalConvention2012
Password : Rio2012

 

The NFL is growing well in China but will not hold a game in the country until its fan base hits tipping point, according to NFL China Managing Director, Richard Young.

Young said the NFL missed opportunities because it was slow to focus on China but he is content with the rise in popularity of the sport throughout major Chinese cities.

“We’re not going down the same old route the way some people still do, they look at 1.38 billion people and say, ‘If we could just get 5 percent’,” Young said. “When people follow that strategy it’s all gone.

“A lot of people try to make very homogenous maxims about China all the time, but we don’t believe there’s a cultural reason as to why American football is more popular in the United States than it is overseas.

“It’s just that we haven’t been very active, have not been proactive, in developing it overseas and particularly in China.

“What would we do differently? Start earlier, that’s the number one thing.”

Several US and European leagues and teams have held games in China, but Young said there were no immediate plans for the NFL to do so.

The NFL cancelled an exhibition game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in 2007 because China was not ready for the sport and the league’s international expansion was instead focused on London.

“Until our fan base is at a level where it can truly support itself, and there is additional demand for more, I’m not supportive of holding a game here,” said Young.

“Wembley sells out in three hours -that’s the NFL. Having empty seats and saying, ‘Oh we still have tickets left’ – that’s not the NFL.

“We’re not going after everyone, we’re going after the rural areas, we’re concentrating on 19 major cities, we know we have a tipping point of 38 million.

“We’re very much more Louis Vuitton than the Gap. We’re focusing on a smaller group of people and until that base is large enough we don’t want to damage our brand equity.”

Unlike the NBA, which has been able to flourish in China due to the country’s long-established basketball structure, the NFL is starting from scratch.

The NFL faces a number of challenges in growing the sport including educating people about what is often considered a complex game and generating enthusiasm about a sport that is not included in the Olympics.

“In developing countries, not unique to China, they see sports primarily through ethnic and national pride,” he said.

Figures related to NFL growth are positive, however, particularly in social media and online streaming.

More than 1 million people in China watched the Super Bowl online last season, while cumulative television viewership jumped from 48 million to 80 million across China.

Nike will begin selling NFL apparel in its stores on November 16.

“Most people in China don’t know what a quarterback does, but our research shows they recognize the NFL shield and the NFL brand quite well, actually a lot better than most people think and a lot higher than many leagues who are also in China.

“They know that it is quality and they know that it has stature in the United States, which carries a lot of weight here, so we don’t want to do anything just to tick a box.

“Holding a game in China just to say that we did it is not part of our plans.”{jcomments on}

Andy Murray’s triumphant win at the US Open win is likely to bring in major new sponsors for the Tennis star according to experts.

Since clinching his maiden Grand Slam, within weeks of nabbing an Olympic gold, Murray’s stock has risen ever higher amongst both British and international audiences, making the bouffant tennis champ a natural choice for commercial sponsorship.

Murray is estimated to have raked in around £14m in prize money throughout his career so far but this is expected to swell alongside income from his personal company.

This venture has allowed Murray to coin £6.4m in sponsorship, merchandising and appearance fees over the past 12 months and with his star never higher that figure is likely to more than treble.

Murray is already sponsored by watchmaker Rado, sports brands Adidas and Head, car maker Jaguar and RBS with more set to follow given the unprecedented current profile of British sport.

Nigel Curry, director of Brand Repport told the Guardian that he expects international brands such as Gillette to quickly show interest in the Scot.

“I think it will be the big global brands, like the ones we have seen in the Olympics – the Samsungs, the Visas, the McDonald’s and Coca-Colas that go for it,” said Curry

Japanese automotive company Toyota and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have continued their partnership of the World Championships until 2017.

Toyota was already committed to supporting the 14^th World Championships in Moscow next year, order but the new contract will carry on through to Beijing, order China in 2015 and London, England in 2017.

The agreement means the car company will provide 200 vehicles for athlete transportation and the marathon lead timing car, as well as featuring their logo on women athletes’ bibs.

Toyota first became an official partner of the IAAF World Championships in 2003 at the Paris, France event.

English Premier League club Newcastle United have settled its tax dispute with HM Revenue & Customs over the payment of image rights to players.

Owner Mike Ashley, Sports Direct founder, will disclose the agreement this week when it announces upbeat full-year results.

Newcastle Utd is not expected to reveal how much it paid to settle the dispute, however it is understood to be less than the contingent liability the club put aside in previous years’ accounts.

The settlement covers all outstanding disputes with HMRC, an insider said. The bulk of the matter is understood to relate to the payment of image rights to its footballers. By labelling payments image rights rather than salaries they can be paid to companies, often offshore, and attract corporation tax at 26% rather than higher rate income tax at 50%.

Although only Chelsea and Newcastle have released information on settlements with HMRC, most Premiership clubs are understood to have come to agreements covering past liabilities and future treatment of payments.

An HMRC spokesman said: “The majority of premier league football clubs have now confirmed that they will pay tax arising from image rights payments, and we continue to negotiate with those that are yet to settle.”

by Ismail Uddin

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) have revealed Google’s flagship automated ad service is profiting from illegal advertisements including London 2012 ads.

The ads in question include unofficial London 2012 Olympic ticket resellers, mixed in among the usual adland-riffraff of fake ID card sellers and cannabis suppliers.

Google has removed the offending Olympic ads following pressure from both the BBC and the metropolitan police.

The search giant is still set to benefit from the profits from these companies’ advertising before their removal.

The BBC’s 5 Live Investigating team highlighted one company called LiveOlympicTickets, whose ad had been appearing at the top of Google’s ranking for anyone searching for “Olympic tickets”.

Google’s AdWords advertising service is partly automated allowing many illegitimate companies to post ads.

While the system does filter key words that can help to highlight unlawful adverts, it is possible for some to slip through the cracks.

Selling tickets on the open market without permission from the Olympic authorities is a criminal offence in the UK under the London Olympic and Paralympic Games Act 2006.

However given that many of the illegal resellers are registered outside the UK, it could be difficult to prosecute.

The maximum penalty fine for reselling Olympic tickets without authorisation from the Olympic authorities was raised last year from £5,000 to £20,000.

Online retailers can simply buy their way to the top of Google’s ranking by paying more.

The very virtue of being listed by Google makes retailers seem genuine to customers, despite Google’s warning s that this isn’t always the case.

“Relying on an automated process is remarkably lax and typing key words into Google can show up illegal sites quite quickly,” online security adviser, Reg Walker told the BBC.

“We carried out an experiment around six months ago trying to knock a ticket scam site off the top of the Google AdWords results and we went up to £28 per click and we still couldn’t shift it from the top.”

“Just because it appears to have the weight of Google behind the advertisement, it doesn’t mean it’s legitimate – it can be quite the opposite,” he added.

This isn’t the first time that Google have come a cropper with their advertising. In August, Google agreed to pay out £324m ($501m) for publishing online adverts from Canadian pharmacies selling illegal drugs to US customers.

Fashion designer Louis Vuitton has renewed its partnership with the America’s Cup to extend its 30-year long association with the event.

The Paris-based fashion house will present the prize, health the Louis Vuitton Cup, see to the winner of the America’s Cup Challenger Series, as well as serve as official timing for the 34th America’s Cup – promoting its new watch range.

“We are thrilled to announce today the continuation of our 30-year partnership with the America’s Cup. Having met with the team several times, we believe that the 34th edition will be the best America’s Cup yet,” said Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton Malletier.

In 2013, the Challenger Series will be staged with the winner earning the right to  compete in the America’s Cup Finals. The Challenger series will be once again called the Louis Vuitton Cup, recognizing the brand’s long partnership with the America’s Cup. In addition, Louis Vuitton will be Official Timing for the America’s Cup World Series competitions, promoting its watch collection.

“We are extremely priveleged that our vision for the next America’s Cup has attracted the return of a company like Louis Vuitton,” said Richard Worth, Chairman, America’s Cup Event Authority. “The 34th America’s Cup will culminate in 2013, marking the 30th anniversary of Louis Vuitton’s support of the sport of sailing, so we could not be more proud to see this great partnership continue and strengthen.”

Since 1983, the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series has been held whenever there has been more than one challenger teams for the America’s Cup. Its role is twofold – to select the best challenger team from the teams presented and, to prepare the winner for success against the Defender in the following America’s Cup Finals.

“I have competed for the Louis Vuitton Cup three times in the past, so I know how important it is to the Challenger’s success. We welcome the return of Louis Vuitton and look forward to racing the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2013,” said Russell Coutts, CEO, BMW ORACLE Racing.

The Louis Vuitton Cup will be in the summer of 2013, with the America’s Cup Finals in early fall. The events will feature the AC72 wing-masted catamaran, a ground-breaking new boat designed to deliver unparalleled racing competition and on-the-water excitement.

“Louis Vuitton is a House that cherishes the art of travel and the spirit of adventure. As a long-time partner, we are very happy to be able to accompany the future of the America’s Cup,” said Pietro Beccari, Senior Vice-President of Louis Vuitton.

IEC in Sports, IAAF’s media rights agency for Europe and Africa, has concluded a deal with Sports Extra Time (SET) for the Sub Saharan African territory for the period 2011 to 2013.

Under the terms of the deal, SET will acquire a package of media rights including terrestrial, free to air and pay TV satellite rights as well as internet and mobile rights for the IAAF World Athletics Series till 2013 in the territory.

The deal covers all of terrestrial Sub Saharan Africa with the exclusion of South Africa and Ghana, where IEC has already concluded agreements.

SET has under contract a network of terrestrial broadcasters and has provided to IEC and the IAAF considerable terrestrial broadcast guarantees across Sub Saharan Africa.

SET is a Swiss based company active in the field of sponsorship and media rights acquisition and distribution and already has a contract with the Confédération Africaine d’Athlétisme (CAA), the IAAF’s continental association for the territory of Africa. Notably with regards to the 2010 CAA African Championships, SET recently achieved the best distribution of the media rights in the history of those championships.

English soccer club, Blackburn say a takeover by the Venky’s group, which would make Rovers the first Indian-owned Premier League club, is set to be completed in November.

Rovers chairman John Williams said: “A series of meetings, including discussions with the Premier League, have followed an extensive due diligence process.

“Both parties are hopeful that the transaction will be completed in November.”

Venkys chairperson Anuradha J Desai added:“We expect to be the first Indian company to acquire a Premier League team.

“And we are particularly delighted that the team is Blackburn Rovers, with whom we believe we have many shared values and ambitions.”

Speaking last week, Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce welcomed the prospect of the sale and new investment into the team.

He said: “The club has been for sale for some time and new investment would be most welcome.

“Investment is needed at every football club and investment here has dried up somewhat because of the club being up for sale.

“We have a strong base at Rovers, a very good club which is run and managed very professionally indeed.

“Blackburn Rovers have a strong history and it could have a bright future given the right sort of investment.”